


The Fifth Element

by pixelated



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, First War with Voldemort, M/M, Mistrust, Post-Hogwarts, hogwarts365, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 23:20:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17130620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixelated/pseuds/pixelated
Summary: His relationship with Sirius is slowly killing him, but he’ll hold on no matter what.





	The Fifth Element

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from hogwarts365 on tumblr: Elements

 

When Sirius kisses him, he is water: ebbing and flowing and cresting, and Remus is languid and buoyant, floating just on the surface. He is crystal clear and blue all at once, a false serenity, and Remus is hoping not to be pulled too far under, praying not to drown, but his lungs are already filling up.

When Sirius wraps his arms around him, he is earth: solid under Remus’s skinny, birch tree limbs, and rising up like an obstructive mountain. He is Remus’s foundation, but he’s fractured with desiccation cracks in the sweltering desert. He is a dark cavern, and Remus loses his footing and falls willingly into the unknown abyss.

When Sirius fucks him, he is fire: smoldering at first, then burning from the inside out, bright red flames incinerating every little inch of Remus’s skin that his fingers touch, like dry, papery leaves. It’s hard and fast and hot like an inferno and makes Remus gasp and scream. He is set ablaze by lust and smoke fills Remus’s lungs and he’s choking, choking, choking, coming.

But when Sirius whispers into his ear, he is air: light and uplifting, puffy cotton cumulus clouds billowing breathlessly, taking the shapes of Remus’s deepest desires, saying all of the things Remus wants to hear, needs to hear, to distract from the lie they’re living, because neither one of them wants to live alone, and neither one of them wants to die alone, and Sirius is the only one who truly knows him.

—————

To Sirius, Remus is aether.

He is the quintessence of all things good and pure. He is heavenly perfumed perfection. He is sweet and soft and fragile and gentle and benevolent and warm. He is love and he is bright white light and Sirius, with his cold and vile Black blood, knows he doesn’t deserve him and knows Remus doesn’t trust him to not shatter his delicate, tender heart.

Sirius doesn’t blame him. He knows he’ll hurt him in the end.

But Remus will hold on as long as he can to whatever he can. So he takes a deep breath, clings onto Sirius, fans the flames, and tells him, _I love you too._


End file.
